Rishi Sunak family: who are ex-Chancellor’s children and wife Akshata Murty - and why are they moving house?

The Chancellor’s wife Akshata Murty avoids millions of pounds a year in UK tax - and has an estimated net worth higher than the Queen’s
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Rishi Sunak is on track to be the next Conservative party leader, as himself and Liz Truss are the final candidates to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

However, his vast wealth has been the subject of much criticism and has branded him as being “out of touch”.

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Earlier this year, the Sunaks found themselves at number 222 on the Sunday Times rankings of Britain’s 1,000 richest people.

His wife, Akshata Murty, has a stake in IT giant Infosys - the Indian tech company founded by N.R. Narayana Murthy, her father.

However, it was revealed that Sunak’s multi-millionaire wife avoided paying taxes on her foreign income while families faced the brunt of the cost of living crisis.

The BBC estimated she would have avoided £2.1 million a year in UK tax due to her non-dom status.

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Many politicians openly condemned Sunak’s wife using the tax status, but Murty announced after she would change her tax arrangements.

What was the tax row?

Akshata Murty has "non-dom" status, meaning she does not have to pay UK tax on income earned abroad.

The non-dom scheme is legal but Labour said it would be "breathtaking hypocrisy" if Rishi Sunak’s wife had reduced her tax bill while he raised taxes for millions of workers across the country in his post as Chancellor.

Before he resigned on 5 July, Sunak had ultimate oversight of all fiscal matters in the UK including regular reviews of the non-dom rules, making this matter a direct conflict of interest.

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Pressure mounted further when it was revealed that Infosys, which Murty has a share in, is still operating in Moscow despite the war in Ukraine.

Murty confirmed she will pay UK taxes on all her income, telling the BBC she did not want to be a "distraction" for her husband.

A Whitehall leak investigation was launched to establish how the information was put into the public domain.

Who are the Chancellor’s wife and children?

Akshata Murty is the daughter of the so-called ‘Bill Gates of India’, Narayana Murty.

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She has a 0.91% stake in her father’s tech empire Infosys bringing her net worth to around £500m - higher than the Queen’s.

She received £11.6 million in dividend income last year from her share.

Murty was the first woman to work for India’s largest car maker, and is now a philanthropist and member of the Gates Foundation.

She is listed as having shares in at least six other UK companies, including luxury gentlemen’s outfitters New & Lingwood, the UK company that operates Jamie’s Italian in India, nanny agency Koru Kids and gym chain Digme Fitness, which she is also a director of.

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As a non-domiciled (non-dom) UK resident, Murty is not required by law to pay UK taxes on her overseas income. The BBC estimates this would have saved her £2.1 million a year in UK tax.

Murty married the former Chancellor in 2009 after they met at Stanford University.

She lives in Number 11 Downing Street with Sunak and their two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

She and her husband have four homes, including a £7 million five-bedroom property in Kensington, a £1.5 million mansion in his North Yorkshire constituency, and a Santa Monica penthouse in California with an estimated value of £5.5 million.

Why did the former Chancellor and his family move house?

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Removal vans were seen visiting Downing Street, where the Sunak family occupied the flat above No 10.

It was reported that Sunak was moving the family to Kensington, where it was expected he will spend weekdays in Downing Street and return to his family at weekends.

The move followed the fresh allegations surrounding his wife’s tax status and fuelled speculation that Sunak wanted to remove his family from the spotlight.

There were reports that Sunak considered quitting his job due to the focus on his family’s finances.

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A source told the Sunday Times: “He was considering whether he could withstand his family taking this any more.”

However, his allies said the move was related to him and his family wanting to be closer to their elder daughter’s primary school during her final term before she moved to boarding school.

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